Aug 7 (Reuters) - Poland's Katarzyna Niewiadoma-Phinney put in a stunning solo ride to take victory on the summit of Mont Ventoux in a thrilling stage seven of the Tour de France Femmes on Friday, which moved the 2024 winner into the leader's yellow jersey as she ended her long wait for a stage win in the race.
The 146.8-km ride from La Voulte-sur-Rhone ended with the legendary climb - included in the Tour de France Femmes for the first time - and Niewiadoma-Phinney left her rivals in her wake when she attacked with over nine kilometres left to race.
"This victory goes to so many people that were with me along this very long road without proper big wins," Niewiadoma-Phinney said. "I'm just so tired and so blown away with what just happened."
The stage turned into a battle of the top three overall, and Niewiadoma-Phinney, who began the day in third place, now holds a 15-second lead over Dutch rider Demi Vollering, who came in second, with Italy's Elisa Longo Borghini finishing third.
Switzerland's Marlen Reusser started the stage in yellow, but after coming fourth now trails the leader by 39 seconds.
The peloton was down to around 40 riders, including the top 10 in the general classification, as they began the final gruelling 16-km ride to the top, but those numbers were greatly reduced on the early part of the climb.
Vollering, the 2023 winner, launched her attack with less than 11-km to go, but Reusser and Niewiadoma-Phinney stuck with her to leave the trio out on their own.
POLISH POWER
When Niewiadoma-Phinney, who started the day one minute 17 seconds off the lead, made her move, her two rivals hung back as they appeared to be locked in a game of cat-and-mouse.
Vollering then gave chase, with Reusser hanging onto her back wheel, but Niewiadoma-Phinney continued to extend her lead, battling the pain to pile on the seconds.
Vollering finally managed to shake off Reusser, who was overtaken by Borghini before the line but, up ahead, Niewiadoma-Phinney continued her march into the overall lead and found the energy to raise her arms in celebration as she crossed the line.
The Polish rider broke down in tears as she stood on the podium wearing the yellow jersey for the first time since her triumph two years ago, as her dream of a stage victory finally came true in perhaps the toughest of them all.
Niewiadoma-Phinney was not the only one crying.
"As we started to climb the Mont Ventoux, I looked right and I saw my parents," she said.
"They made a surprise visit, I could see my dad crying, and I was like, 'I just need to make them proud'."
Niewiadoma-Phinney and Vollering have finished on the final podium since the Tour de France Femmes began in 2022, and now looks set to fight to become the first repeat-winner of the race.
Saturday's penultimate stage is the longest of this year's race, taking the riders 171.9-km from Sisteron to Nice, where a mostly flat ride will likely suit the sprint specialists, leaving the GC battle for Sunday's final stage.
(Reporting by Trevor Stynes; Editing by Christian Radnedge and Ken Ferris)
